


Good Night, Buttercup

by L_Greene



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Gen, In which the angst runs freely, all the pre-war ghouls deserve better, arlen glass deserves better, holy shit I cried like five times writing this, i hate these dumb ghouls and their dumb heartbreaking backstory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-26 00:17:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6215983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L_Greene/pseuds/L_Greene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rosa finds a holotape that once belonged to an old friend. She just didn't realize how much it would mean to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Night, Buttercup

Rosa entered the building on a whim: she was morbidly curious about the fate of the toy company, and super mutants weren’t enough to deter her. Hancock grumbled, but she knew it was good-natured. He’d follow her anywhere. They were the closest thing the other had to a best friend.

They entered on the basement level, and they cleared out every super mutant and mutant hound they came across all the way up to the second flood, where the offices were. She stumbled upon a resignation letter in what had been the desk of the company president--she nearly disregarded it until she saw the signature at the bottom: _Arlen Glass_.

It all came back in a rush. She’d ventured down to Quincy, where the Atomatoys factory was, and liberated a crate of toy parts for the old Giddyup Buttercup rideable horse toys at Arlen’s request. Her common sense had told her to decline the mission, but something in the sad slump of Glass’s shoulders and the earnest way he spoke of the toy had moved her. Arlen Glass was a man, rather like Kent Connolly, who had never quite gotten over the war. They both coped with their lives the only way they knew how: Kent by bringing his old comic book hero the Silver Shroud to life, and Arlen by trying to create one last Giddyup Buttercup. Rosa had worn the Shroud costume for Kent, so why was Arlen’s toy any different? The fact that these pre-war ghouls were some evidence for the existence of her own peaceful, pre-Vault life held some sway, too. She felt an odd kinship for these last remnants of the time they could never return to (which also contributed to her accepting Daisy’s request as well), these pre-war ghouls who remembered and had lost just as much as she had. At least this mission didn’t seem like it would end with someone dead, aside from a few super mutants.

So Rosa had hiked down to Quincy with Piper in tow, engaged in a few violent firefights with both Gunners and super mutants, and secured the crate of toy parts for Arlen. When she returned to the Slog, Arlen was so overcome, he nearly cried--and again, the genuine happiness he showed, the mark of a man so singularly devoted to one last cause, had nearly sent Rosa into tears of her own.

He set to work almost immediately, tinkering and assembling, and Rosa smiled and backed away, silently vowing to protect the Slog and all its ghouls as best she could. They deserved so much better.

But now, here, in the corporate headquarters of Wilson Atomatoys, where Arlen had worked--she’d never known him before the war, but she knew him now. She wondered if there were still traces of him left to be found.

She continued exploring, until she came to another office. It was a bit smaller, but here was another door toward the back and glass in the same wall, revealing a small working toy lab. Curious, she ventured in further and sat down at the terminal on the desk.

Welcome back, Arlen, the text at the top of the screen said.

Her chest tightened as she scanned through the documents on the terminal. She quickly scribbled down seven letters-- _MARLENE_ \--and went to the other terminal, the one locking the door into the workshop. Just as she thought, the name was the password, and the door slid open to admit her and Hancock.

“Wow. No one’s been here in awhile,” Hancock murmured while Rosa looked around.

Her eyes fell on the workshop terminal, unlocked, and she crouched down. _Eject holotape?_ Her eyebrows shot up, and she ejected it and immediately popped it into her Pip-Boy.

 _“Go ahead,”_ a woman said.

After a few seconds, a higher, more childlike voice said, _“Hi, Daddy!”_ A long pause. _“When are you coming home?”_

“The hell?” Hancock asked, wheeling around.

“I think this was Arlen’s wife and daughter,” Rosa said softly, just loud enough to be heard over his daughter’s continuing words. “He’ll probably want this back.”

Hancock nodded solemnly. “Let’s go make a ghoul happy.”

Rosa grinned, ejected the holotape, and stuck it in her front pocket. Arlen was going to be so excited.

* * *

She nearly skipped back to the Slog, she was so giddy. She figured this was how Codsworth felt before he presented the holotape Nate had recorded for her with Shaun. Even though she was still moving on from his death, it was still so nice to hear his voice again. She missed him terribly.

“Hey,” Rosa said, quietly so as not to startle Arlen, who was hunched over a nearly-complete Giddyup Buttercup.

“What is it?” He slowly got up and turned to her.

“I think I have something that belongs to you.” She smiled brightly, holding out the holotape.

Arlen tilted his head, confusion crossing his wrinkled features. “A holotape? Let’s see now…” He took it anyway and popped it into the tape drive of his terminal.

 _“Go ahead,”_ said the female voice again.

He gasped as comprehension and a numb disbelief warred on his face.

_“Hi, Daddy!... When are you coming home?”_

“Marlene...” Arlen seemed near to choking. “Oh, God, Marlene…”

_“You work too much. I want you to read to me again. Mommy says you’re helping all the horsies find good homes. Take care of them, okay?”_

“I have…” His voice trailed off.

_“I love you.”_

“And you…” Rosa worried she had upset him--he was speaking disjointedly, as though he weren’t fully aware of anything anymore.

 _“Hmm? Oh, Buttercup says she loves you, too.”_ On the tape, Marlene chuckled. Rosa felt the full weight of this seemingly-innocent statement; Marlene was still young enough to talk to her toys. _“We miss you! Come home soon.”_ The tape stopped.

“Oh, Marlene,” Arlen rasped, and then sighed, his head drooping. “I… I… Give me a minute.” He half turned, collecting his thoughts. “It’s been so long. I never thought I’d hear their voices again. You can’t imagine what this means to me.”

“It’s a long story, but… I lost my husband and my son, too.”

“Then maybe you can understand. She was right, you know. I did work too much. And now… I’ll never hear her voice again, never get to hold her, kiss her goodnight.”

It felt like a punch to the gut--all the things she’d never get to do with Shaun, either. She’d only ever heard his voice in a memory of Kellogg’s. She hadn’t held him in 210 years, or kissed him goodnight, either. She’d never gotten to see him walk or hear his first words or anything. If she ever found him, she’d still be robbed of all those precious moments.

“All I have left are the memories… And this tape. As one parent to another, thank you.”

Rosa felt her eyes watering behind her glasses, but she forced her voice to remain steady. “What happened to them?” she asked, although she had a sinking feeling she knew.

“We had an apartment, in Cambridge. I went to the office, to try to Marc again. When...when it all happened, I tried to get back, but the city was in chaos. By the time I got home...there was only a crater. I lay down in the ruins. I just wanted to die. Instead, I woke up like this.”

She sympathized far too much with Arlen. The feeling of having lost everything...if she hadn’t been so sure Shaun was still alive, she probably would have just blown a hole in her head in the vault once she found the gun. At the very least, for only this reason, she was glad she hadn’t. “All these years… You never gave up, did you? You’re still working too hard.”

“I suppose so,” Arlen admitted. “We made toys. We made children happy. That’s all that mattered. And as long as I can still do that, I will. It’s the least I can do. For her.”

“What now?”

“I...I can’t possibly repay you for this. Here. Take...take everything I have. It’s not much, but…”

“No,” Rosa said. “I didn’t do this for money. I can’t take this from you. You deserve to be happy. I know it’s not your wife and daughter back, but it’s the least I can do. Keep your caps, okay?” She knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself. It wasn’t fair--these memories, this tape, they were priceless.

His glassy eyes shining with unshed tears, Arlen nodded. “Then here, at least take this. I was saving it for her birthday. All these years, it was all I had to remember her by. Please, I want you to have it.”

It was a miniature Giddyup Buttercup. It fit in her hand when Arlen pressed it to her, and she wrapped her fingers around it gently. She still felt bad for taking it, but she knew Arlen would never hear of her refusing to take any kind of reward as a thank-you.

Arlen started to turn away, but Rosa, overcome with emotion, impulsively flung her arms around him in a tight hug. He let out a sound that was nearly a squeak of surprise before he returned the hug. Then, finally, as she heard Arlen sob into her shoulder, her own levee broke and she found herself crying into Arlen’s shoulder as well.

She sensed rather than saw Hancock uneasily squeeze out of the little shack that Arlen worked in, and she didn't blame him for ducking out. It was an emotional moment, and she was just glad she and Arlen were both able to let out two centuries’ worth of grief.

After pulling back, wiping her eyes, and smiling at Arlen’s bittersweet tears, she promised to return soon and went out to where Hancock was waiting, chatting with Wiseman.

That was supposed to have been the end of it.

**Author's Note:**

> liek if u cri evrytiem D;
> 
> (I'm so mad that you don't get the option to let Arlen keep his money. For some reason, I really hate that he gives it to you--probably because he says it's all he has. He doesn't deserve that--the tape was a gift for him. Also goddamn it Bethesda you give us all these sad ghouls and don't let me hug them?? LET ME HUG THE FUCKING GHOULS DAMMIT.)


End file.
